Why Data Security Is Important for Businesses and What to Expect in 2019

Today people are more connected than ever, thanks to revolutionary technology and every aspect of your life, from online shopping to net banking and other business transactions to government infrastructure, digital technology plays an important role in your day-to-day life. A large amount of data is transferred from one destination to another, which makes it vulnerable. Therefore data security is crucial for enterprises as well as individuals. Security of data is a major concern also when it comes to outsourcing data entry. But outsourcing to a reliable provider of data entry services ensures confidentiality of data and minimizes cyber security risks.

Data security begins with a good overall strategy and risk assessment. It helps you to find out the risks involved if valuable data is lost or in the event of a malware infection or system crash. Potential threats that can harm sensitive data are:

Manmade errors like wrong processing of information or unintended disposal of data, or data entry mistakes

Exploits from business espionage and other malicious activity.

The next step is to identify areas of vulnerability and develop appropriate strategies to secure your information systems and valuable data.

This is the age of Big Data and business data is growing at a phenomenal speed. According to Data Age 2025, a report by IDC and Seagate, by the year 2025 the global data sphere will be as big as 163 zettabytes and 90 percent of that data could require some level of security but less than half may be secured. Data driven industries like finance, healthcare and retail should invest in data security practices to avoid high-profile data breaches and cyber criminal activities.

The security industry is well aware of the rising demand for data security products and the market is filled with products that claim to address concerns of businesses in this regard, and also meets new government regulations like the European Union’s General Data Protection Rule (GDPR). A report from Markets and Markets points out that the global cyber security industry could reach $231 billion by 2020.

Although there are many security products available in the product, in the rush to stay competitive, many security providers fail to see the bigger picture. Security is important in all aspects of handling and processing of data, especially those areas of hardware and software protection that were not previously a prime concern.

Data Security Concerns

The increasing amount of data increases security risks. From network providers to cloud software firms, all those who handle and process data use their own techniques to secure their small part of the data value chain, and do not think beyond that. With the popularity of IoT, machine learning, embedded systems and real time data analysis, data processing has become more complex. With more steps in data transfer, the chances of malicious players gaining access to sensitive data increase. To provide a more secure system to customers, security vendors should have a clear understanding of the way businesses are implementing their technologies, what other products are used in the same stack, and how these different products can function together to create a circle of protection for customer data.

Data owners often face constant threat of attack and it is important to ensure that every link in the security chain is in place and all the aspects of hardware and software that handle sensitive data have adequate security features. According to the Thales Data Threat report, data-at-rest security tools are considered the ideal way to protect data once the attackers are inside the walls. If anyone manages to breach the layers of security using hacked or fraudulent activities, then hardware level encryption can protect organizational data from any theft. This report also points out that data at rest received some of the lowest level spending increases in the year 2016 and 56% increase for end point security.

According to Accenture’s Cost of Cybercrime study, the number of data breaches increased 27.4 percent in 2017. Businesses now use cloud storage system and must prepare themselves to face major security breaches if technology fails. Development of blockchain technology and other advanced malware attacks like WannaCry both present far more serious and advanced threats than businesses are accustomed to dealing with.

In the technology-driven modern era, total security can be provided only by a variety of sophisticated defence systems that function harmoniously with each other. Security experts say that encryption at the drive level is necessary. All security systems must communicate with each other and work together to maximize security.

Security Trends for 2019

Better cyber protection with AI: As GigaSpaces VP of Product Yoav Einav points out, “machine learning and deep learning models can determine which transactions most likely to fraudulent automatically and efficiently with fewer false positives.” For banks and other financial organizations the ability to understand the patterns and trends of cyber fraudulent activity is essential. This helps such organizations to detect fraud. With AI and ML evolving in 2019, predictive cyber protection will become a norm and not an exception.

Self evaluating applications will continue to evolve: Humans may not be able to detect small vulnerabilities in massive networks but a combination of AI and automation can succeed in this regard. One of the biggest developments in 2019 could be the rise of runtime applications for self protection (RASPs) which will be able to detect problems without any human intervention. RASPs provide an extra layer of protection at any application level and as per Gartner’s report around 40 percent of enterprise level businesses will be using RASPs to some extent by 2020.

Effective Authentication: Passwords are a useful tool for verification and authentication but they cannot guarantee data security. Other advanced systems like biometric verification, 2-factor authentication and other methods like Identity- as-a service (IDaaS) are becoming increasingly popular. Fast Identity Online or vocal recognition is also getting widely accepted and have replaced password and this change is expected to continue in 2019.

Changes in data security governance: The year 2018 has seen a lot of high profile security breaches. So, understanding the best practices for governing data and ensuring its security has become more important. Companies are revaluating their data security governance will evolve to keep up with these paradigm.

BYOD is still popular and will add to security challenges: Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is one of the most popular trends in business which minimizes corporate costs, makes remote working easier and has shown to increase productivity when utilized properly. In the coming years, there will increasing need for a safer way to implement BYOD program.
Businesses deal with huge volumes of sensitive data which are hard to replace. Data forms the basis of any organization and keeping it safe from breaches is vital. Outsourcing data entry to a reliable vendor ensures safety of data and a good provider can also provide you with accurate data cleansing services, data conversion services and other solutions.

About Rajeev R

Manages the day-to-day operations of MOS from NY. With an interest in information technology, Rajeev has guided MOS to extensive use of digital technology and the internet that benefits MOS as well as MOS clients.
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